San Rafael artist explores multifaceted sides of mushrooms

Growing up as an only child and considered a bit of an oddball by his parents, Michael Campbell spent a lot of his childhood alone with his thoughts, getting lost in the fantasy worlds he created. It wasn’t long before the San Rafael resident’s imagination carried him into art, first in painting, then mixed-media sculpture.

For the last decade, mushrooms have been the focus of his colorful and quirky art. Working in his Art Works Downtown studio surrounded by fungi inspiration he’s found around Marin, he explores the multifaceted sides of mushrooms, such as their roles as decomposers in the nature world and their symbolism in fairy tales.

Campbell, 51, has taught at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University for about 20 years.

Q What inspired you to incorporate mushrooms in your work?

A Living in Marin. When I lived in San Francisco, it was very urban and it was hard to find mushrooms. When I moved out here, my wife, Alina, and I began to go out hunting mushrooms during the mushroom season, and that’s a really nice inspiration for us both. Finding the iconic Amanita muscaria in the woods in Marin is just a real thrill for us. We will take some of the mushrooms home, photograph them and look at them to identify them. It’s a real treat to walk through the woods and see a pop of color. It’s almost like hunting for Easter eggs.

Q What drew you to mushrooms?

A I have always had a morbid curiosity with things and life cycles. My dad became ill and died two weeks before my wedding. I was brought up going to church as a child and when he was dying, I was there by his side and he was constantly asking me about my faith. I had to sort of give him what he wanted to hear during this transition. I think about him a lot and where he is now, and look for signs for him. I think that my art has in a way become my spirituality. The connection with mushrooms goes back to college days, the first time I was experimenting with psychedelic mushrooms as well. That’s sort of where I felt more of a spiritual presence, so this is in part how I connect spiritually though the idea of mushrooms. If you look at different cultures throughout the world, mushrooms have this connection to the spiritual world.

Q Which mushrooms inspire you the most?

A Amanita muscaria is a favorite because it’s so identifiable and the interpretation of it is spread across genres. But also psychedelic mushrooms; I love those because of the bluing of the stem. If you pick a magic mushroom, your hand will bruise the stem of the mushroom and it will bruise blue — it’s a beautiful color.

Q What are some reactions you’ve gotten?

A Some people just don’t get it. But I think that the people who are into mycology, or who have done psychedelics in their younger years, get it immediately and that’s interesting for me. Those who do identify with it, they immediately connect with it and they can talk to you about mushrooms very easily. I have made a lot of friends.

Q What do you want people to get from your work?

A I want them to be able to connect with the mushroom world the same way I do, to see for what it is, to look at nature and woods as more spiritual.